Fulham 5-0 Northampton

Fulham's reserve team cruised to victory against Northampton in a friendly on Wednesday afternoon at Motspur Park courtesy of a hat trick from Elvis Hammond.

The Whites got off to a shaky start as Northampton came close to netting the first goal of the match on the 8-minute mark. Maik Taylor could only watch as McGuffie's glanced header flew just wide of his right hand post.

The early scare appeared to shake Fulham into action as the Whites then began to boss the midfield. David Shevel was playing his usual active role just in front of the back four, but the performance of the first-half came from Louie Fazackley on the right wing.

The tricky youngster, who was playing for his collage only a year ago, was a constant threat to the Cobblers back line.

Fulham took the lead in the 31st minute and it came as no surprise to see Fazackley involved. After playing a nice one-two, Fazackley whipped in a pinpoint cross for Hammond to place his header past the 'keeper.

The Whites almost doubled their lead on 40 minutes after Fazackley was again found in space down the right flank. His cross to the far post was met sweetly by Eddie Lewis who'd shaped his body perfectly for the volley. Unluckily for Fulham, the ball whistled over the bar.

Andrejs Stolcers made it 2-0 to Fulham from the penalty spot after Hammond was cynically brought down inside the box.

The second half saw Fulham make a number of substitutions as Steve Kean introduced Marcus Hahnemann, Zesh Rehman, Tom Hutchinson and Dean Leacock for Maik Taylor, Louie Fazackley, Andrejs Stolcers and Mark Hudson.

If anything, Fulham looked a stronger side after the changes. It wasn't long before Hammond got his second of the match after linking up well with Willock to make the score 3-0.

Fulham had now stepped up a gear and were comfortably creating chances at will.

Calum Willock scored Fulham's fourth after Zesh Rehman played a powerful low cross into the box for the young striker to divert home from close range.

The final goal of the encounter came after Eddie Lewis looked to be making good progress down the left, however play was stopped after the referee spotted some off the ball shirt tugging on Hammond and consequently awarded a penalty.

Hammond completed his hat trick, and Fulham's scoring, from the spot to round off a comfortable victory.